20 Seconds
by TheGirlin404
Summary: The holiday season is upon them once again and Maura needs to get her decorations up. But the thing is, she really has something that she needs to tell Jane. Will she find the courage to say it? If she does, how will Jane react?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I have this professor who makes us write her an email every day we are in class and for whatever reason that quote "Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage," you know from We Bought A Zoo, popped into my head and became the subject of my email to her. Then this bolt of lightning struck me for this story while sitting in class from that quote. Here's the thing, I'm not too sure if it's really a good story or not though. This is just chapter one of it and there would be at least one more chapter if y'all wanted me to continue it. So, read on and hopefully enjoy!**

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She rolled over and looked at the clock. It wasn't late, but it wasn't as early as she normally got up either. Everything going on seemed to be taking its toll and she found herself needing more and more sleep lately. Though she hadn't had any morning sickness yet so she supposed she could handle feeling a little more tired than usual.

Maura climbed out of bed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She sat at one of the chairs at the island and looked around. The holiday season was now in full swing. Today she needed to get all of the Christmas decorations out and up. Usually they would have been up by now, but Angela had decided to host Thanksgiving so she had procrastinated on getting it done.

The fact that Angela hosted Thanksgiving was a blessing in disguise really. By having the party somewhere other than her own home she was able to make it through the day without drinking and no one paid any attention. That and the fact that she had been so busy at work and she had been so tired she wasn't sure if she would have been able to get the decorations up in time.

The fact that she was pregnant at near Christmas also helped to hide all of the things she was already buying for the baby. To Jane and Angela it just looked like she was buying Christmas presents for everyone. Now though, she was getting near the end of her first trimester and she was going to have to tell everyone soon.

She'd never intended on keeping her pregnancy from anyone, least of all her best friend, but things had spiraled out of her control. She and Jack had decided they weren't going to work out. Their relationship had become just a physical one and she didn't want to continue with it. She was pretty sure she was in love with someone else and had wanted to be able to explore that possibility more. Then, she was surprised a few weeks after her breakup with Jack when she missed her period. They'd been careful every time they were together, but tests at her doctor's office confirmed the home pregnancy test she'd taken.

Maura had been so concerned with trying to start getting ready for all the changes that would take place in her life, along with hitting one of the busier times of the year for the homicide department and the exhaustion setting in that she just hadn't found the right time or way to tell anyone yet.

Twenty seconds. Just twenty seconds of insane courage was all she would need to tell them. Twenty seconds of insane courage would have been all she needed to tell Jane that she was in love with her too, but so far she hadn't found the ability to do that either. Now she wasn't even sure if she would ever get the chance to tell Jane how she felt; or see if there was any possibility to find out if Jane could ever feel the same.

She knew she wanted to tell Jane first. She needed to find out from her if things would be alright between them when she found out before she told the rest of the Rizzoli family and her coworkers. She had thought long and hard about how she would break the news to Jane. Finally though, Maura thought she had found just the way to do it; a way to bring about her twenty seconds of courage. First though, she would need to get Jane's help decorating today.

Even though she knew Jane liked to sleep in Maura was confident that the detective would be awake. She grabbed her cell phone and punched in the numbers before hitting the send button and waiting to hear the ring at the end of the connection.

The voicemail box was about to set in when Maura heard the click of line as Jane answered and a 'hey' that sounded a little sleepy. The she started to wonder if she had woken Jane up and started to feel guilty about the possibility of that happening.

"Maur?" she heard from the other end of the line. She'd gotten so caught up in her thoughts of waking Jane she had forgotten to say anything.

"Jane."

"Yeah, morning. What's up?"

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Maura couldn't help but ask.

"No, not really," Jane replied. "I was just laying here on the couch with Jo watching some highlights on ESPN. So are you going to tell me what's up or am I going to have to ask again?"

Maura could hear the smile and teasing in her voice, "Well technically you did just ask again." She knew that was the response Jane had been waiting on and she could almost feel her best friend smiling broadly at the other end. "To answer your question though, I was wondering if you could come over and help me with my Christmas decorations today?"

"Uh, yeah sure. I'm a little surprised. I thought you would have had them up by now, but I'll be there in a half hour or so if that's okay.

"Sounds great Jane, I'll see you then. Thank you."

"No problem," she heard Jane say just before the small click and beep that signaled that she had ended the call.

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**And yes, I know it's pretty short (at least by my standards anyway. But this is what I had written so far.) So, I need your help. If you would be so kind as to click in that little box right down there and type in what you thought about this so far I would greatly, greatly, greatly, appreciate it! Thank you so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

**AN: Hey everyone! Let me just say, WOW! I was so blown away by all of the reviews and follows and favorites to this story. I am so happy that you all liked what I had so far. I think I've responded to all of you that I could who wrote a review. Fair warning with this chapter. It ends rather abruptly. That's because I kind of cut it in half so that I could get something posted for you all. I am working on this as fast as I can, but please understand I have an online quiz to take for my class this weekend and then a huge final on Monday that I am going to have to study for. But I will get the next part out ASAP. Thanks again for reading. Enjoy!**

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Maura had just finished getting into some comfy clothes and gotten a few of the lighter boxes out of her storage room when she heard the doorbell sound. She paused for a moment wondering who would be ringing the doorbell. By now Jane either just came into her house or used the key Maura had given her.

She made her way to the door and spotted the tall figure through the door. Judging by the unruly mane she could make out it couldn't be anyone other than Jane. She reached for the handle and started to turn it slightly when she realized it was locked. So, she proceeded to throw the lock back and open the door.

"About time," Jane said with teasing in her voice. "Wouldn't you know it, the one time I forget to bring my key you decide to actually lock the door."

"I'm sorry, Jane."

"No, no. Don't apologize. I've only been trying for the last four years or so to get you into the habit of locking your door. I don't want to have you backslide from here." Jane gave her a little wink as she shrugged out of her coat and hung it up in the hall closet.

Maura watched Jane's actions closely. She thought to herself about how she had been working these past few years on getting the detective to develop a few habits while at her house. And by the looks of things they were working. She smiled just a little to herself thinking about how when she first met Jane she would always have to follow the detective to the living room and pick up her coat or blazer from the couch or one of the chairs and then take it back to the hall closet and hang it herself.

"So, where do we start?" Jane asked her as she made her way over to the living room.

"Well I don't have all of the boxes down yet or the tree," Maura responded.

"I knew it! You just want me for my muscle, don't you?"

Maura was about to give her a reply in the negative when she caught the grin on the other woman's face. Then she realized that Jane was still teasing her. For whatever reason, the detective seemed to be in a teasing, almost flirty, mood today.

"I'm just kidding. If I do recall correctly, however, I think I mentioned something about you packing some of the boxes a little heavier than others last year when we put them away. So, I'll start grabbing those."

Maura nodded and then replied, "Yeah some of them are a little bit heavy for me to get." She felt a twinge of guilt for saying it, even though she wasn't lying. However, she knew that she had kept facts hidden by omitting some things and though she could get by without getting hives she still had the guilt that she would have to live with until she told Jane.

R&amp;I

A little over an hour later they had managed to get all of the boxes out and some of the stuff up. Everyone's stockings were hung on the mantel and it was strung with garland and lights. For the last little bit Maura had been stringing the garland along the stairs and banister while Jane worked on getting the tree out of the box.

"Well, I just finished over here. So, how about we take a break and then we can work on the tree together?" Maura asked Jane as she had just gotten the base for the tree set up.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," Jane responded as she set the instructions for the tree setup back in the box.

Maura seats herself in a chair on the backside of the island as Jane makes her way to the fridge. "Can I get you anything?" she asks.

"Water would be good," Maura replied. She couldn't believe how amazing it felt just to sit down. Okay, so she thought she would be perfectly fine to feel more tired than to deal with morning sickness, but at this moment she wasn't so sure anymore. There were things that she needed and wanted to do and it didn't make it fun that she was worn out so easily.

As she had been thinking to herself about her exhaustion, she had missed the fact that Jane had sat her bottle of water down in front of her and was now watching her closely for the first time in a while. Maura snapped out of it when she realized that Jane was waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. She startled slightly and then looked up at Jane, "Sorry, what?"

"Are you feeling okay Maur? Something looks a little off about you."

"No!" she put a little too much emphasis on that. "No," she said again with a little more composure and coolness in her voice. "I'm alright. Just a little tired. I haven't been resting as well as I usually do, that's all."

Jane shot her a look that said she didn't quote believe that after her little outburst, but that she wasn't going to push it right now. She made her way around the island, "Come on, let's at least go sit on the couch where it's a little more comfy."

"More comfy or do you just want to catch the sports highlights?" Maura questioned, knowing which answer she would probably get.

"Okay, okay, there's that too," Jane quipped as her face lit up in a smile that showed she had been busted.

The woman both made their way over to the couch. Maura sank down into it and let out a relieved sigh. Jane was right; it was definitely more comfortable than the chairs at the island. Jane grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and sat down right next to Maura. She hit the power button and found the channel she was looking for before leaning back.

Maura couldn't help herself she leaned over into Jane's side. Before she knew it Jane had her arm wrapped around her shoulders and she snuggled further into her. She loved it when she had the chance to be this close to Jane; not many people had the opportunity to see this side of her. Many only saw the rough and tumble detective that Jane was while at work. But in actuality she was just a big softie; someone who was always there for others when they needed her. If she could have one wish Maura thought that being wrapped up in Jane's arms and being hers always would be the one wish she had.

That was the thing though; she wasn't sure that she much longer to have moments like this. There were a few things that could happen within just a matter of a couple of hours. She would tell Jane about the pregnancy and Jane would be as ecstatic as she was starting to feel about everything or she would be extremely upset that Maura had been hiding it from her for so long.

Then too there was telling Jane about her true feelings. She could tell Jane about her true feelings for her and how if she could choose one person to be with for the rest of her life it would be her. But surely, that would leave her heart to break when Jane looked at her and told her she didn't feel the same. There was a slight chance that Jane would look at her and say the words she wanted to hear, but given the fact that Jane had never talked about women like that before she had understandable doubts about hearing the words she so hoped she could. She could always ask Jane to be a co-parent to the baby.

The next thing Maura knew was that Jane was gently shaking her shoulder as the room started to come into focus. She sat up some and cocked her head when she looked at Jane. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah, you did."

"How long was I out?" Maura asked feeling like she'd been asleep for ages. Even her voice was a little raspy.

"Not long. Just about 20 minutes. I thought you could use a power nap since you said you hadn't been sleeping well."

"Thanks," Maura replied while smiling at Jane and reaching for the bottle of water she had left on the coffee table in front of them. Jane's arms being longer however meant that she reached it first and handed it off to Maura. She removed the cap and took a greedy sip realizing that her mouth was dry.

For the first time in a while Jane really looked at her best friend. What she saw shocked her a little. There were dark circles under her eyes and not only did she look utterly exhausted she looked almost frail. At the same time though, her best friend still looked as beautiful as ever. Jane was shocked that she had missed the changes. This woman was her best friend, one of the few people she cared about more than anything else on Earth, and she had missed something going on with her. "Do you want to go upstairs and get back in bed? I could finish getting the tree up and then we could always decorate it tomorrow or something if you want to get some more sleep."

"No, Jane. I'm alright. And I really want to finish this today, with you."

"Okay. You're the doctor so I trust you know what you can take. So, are you ready to get back to it?"

Maura nodded her assent and started to rise from the couch. Jane held out a hand and helped her to her feet. They both stretched a little bit before walking back over to the partially assembled pre-lit tree.

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**The next chapter will pick up right where this one leaves off. So? What did you think? I always love hearing anything that you think about my stories or writing. So, click in that little box down there and let me hear it! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Did someone ask Santa for an update? Lol. They must be on the nice list cause here's the next chapter! Thank you everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know you all like this story and want to read more of it. At the end of this chapter I think you'll either love me or hate me and I'd really like to know which so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Enjoy!**

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A half hour, several slips of the tongue for which Jane was admonished by Maura, and a couple of replaced light bulbs the tree was up. Its nine foot height and all of the white lights made it absolutely glow already. And they still had yet to get a single ornament on it.

"Ok, which of these boxes do we need to get into first?"

"The one marked tinsel. We need to get that up first and then we can go with the ornaments."

"Wait you have a box for just tinsel?" Jane said looking at her incredulously.

"It's not that big of a box, but yes I do. I have several colors of tinsel depending on what color scheme I decide to go with."

"Okay, how have I known you for years now and not known that you go with a color scheme for your tree?"

"Maybe you just aren't quite the detective you think you are," Maura replied giving Jane a coy grin.

Jane's bottom jaw fell and she looked at Maura with indignation. Maura couldn't help but laugh at the look on Jane's face. She walked over and wrapped her arms around the detective's neck. Jane's arms slid around her back and they just stood there wrapped up in each other for a moment.

"You know I'm only teasing you, Jane" Maura said as she leaned out of the embrace and placed a light kiss on Jane's cheek. "I couldn't help it; you left yourself open for that one."

"So, I did," Jane said as she exhaled slightly. "Which color scheme are we going to go with this year then?"

Maura contemplated the question for a moment. There was going to be one special ornament on the tree this year and she wanted to compliment it. "Silver," she replied to Jane's inquiry.

Jane walked over to the box and opened it. She quickly found the appropriate color. Within a few minutes of them both working at it they strung the tinsel around the tree were ready to move on to the ornaments that would be placed on the tree.

"Wow, having a tree with the lights on it certainly cuts down on the time that it takes to decorate a tree. I can remember it used to feel like it took hours to decorate the tree with Ma when I was a kid. I always used to be so glad when it was done.

"Do you still help your mother decorate?"

"Nah, not really. She's scaled back quite a bit from when we were kids. Honestly, I think you've spoiled us. You have this giant tree and always let us hold festivities here and we've gotten to the point that we don't decorate as much anymore. Besides I think she usually tries to get Frankie or Tommy to help her at least do the outside decorating, but I should probably check with her this year and see if she wants any help."

"I think that would be really sweet of you Jane. Do you think that you'll have your kids help you decorate the tree like you used to help your mother?"

Jane stood and thought about it for a few moments. "You know, I hadn't really thought about it before. But I suppose that is something that I would want to do with my kids when the time comes for it."

She had a far-away look in her eye as she answered and Maura couldn't help but wonder if Jane was picturing herself around a Christmas tree decorating it with a family. She wondered if Jane was indeed picturing her family decorating a tree what she was imagining her family to look like.

Maura could feel tears starting to well in her eyes. Her hand slid down to rest on her belly. Every time she thought of her family, of what the future would be like with this child growing inside of her, she imagined Jane right there with them. She knew she shouldn't think such things. But, one of the other things she had picked up form Jane over the years was to wonder "what if."

"Hey, are you okay?" Jane asked, startling Maura out of some thought she was in. She noticed Maura had gone quiet and still, as though reflecting on something.

"Yeah," Maura said removing her hand from her belly and willing the tears to leave her eyes. Thankfully she had been able to respond without letting any of her emotions seep out in her voice.

Once she felt like she had pulled herself together enough not to have Jane notice she had almost been about to cry she turned to face her. "Now, we just need to get some of the ornaments out."

"Which boxes were they in again?"

"Those four over there," Maura replied. "And don't give me that look Jane Rizzoli. No, not all of them will go on the tree because some of them only go with one color scheme while others we place out every year."

Jane couldn't help but smile at getting the reprimand from Maura. Her face had completely given her away on that one and she knew she probably deserved it. She had agreed to come over and help and she shouldn't complain. Usually Maura did most of the decorating by herself and then let the whole Rizzoli clan use her house for all of the festivities. She owed Maura for being as generous as she had to them over the past few years. She owed Maura for just being the amazing woman that she was and the amazing friend that she had been over the years.

They walked over to where the boxes of ornaments sat near the corner of the room. Jane opened the lid on the first one. "No, these are specifically for when I go with a color scheme of gold," Maura commented.

"Okay then," Jane said as she replaced the lid on the box and set if off of the stack of the others, "on to the next one."

Jane picked popped open the lid on the next box. "Yes, these will do."

Inside the box Jane could see more boxes of what looked like vintage ornaments. The kind she had helped her mother decorate the tree with as a kid. Though when she took a closer look she noticed something on the box she knew couldn't be vintage. They were shatter proof. She knew that Maura must have purchased them after TJ's birth to make sure that he couldn't get hurt from a broken ornament while they were at her house for their celebrations.

Tears welled in her eyes a little bit just thinking about how well Maura had actually been taking care of all of them without them even realizing the full depth of her care. She was glad that Maura had grabbed a box and was already hanging ornaments on the tree, so she wouldn't see her eyes glisten with the unshed tears.

"Why don't you go ahead and open the third box down. I think it contains some of the soft ornaments. Then the last one should have the different tree toppers in it," Maura said to her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Alright," Jane answered. She opened moved the open box to the top of the box that had the color specific ornaments in it and then proceeded to open the next box. It was actually the one that had the tree toppers in it. So, Jane slid that one off and onto the floor and opened the final box that would have to contain the soft ornaments that Maura had spoken of.

Once she had ascertained what was in each box, Jane slid all of the ones they would need closer to the tree so they wouldn't have to go as far to get more. After that they set about getting all of the ornaments they could on the tree.

R&amp;I

A half hour later and they were finally ready to start placing ornaments around the top where even Jane couldn't reach. "Why don't you grab the step ladder I keep in the laundry room while I go get a couple of things? I have a couple of new ornaments that I need to get and get hung up on the tree."

"Sure, that's good with me," Jane answered.

A few minutes later Jane came back with the step ladder. By that time Maura must have already hung her ornaments because she was looking over the tree toppers trying to decide which one she liked best for the tree this year.

"I think I'll go with this one," Maura said holding up one that was silver and resembled a shining star.

Jane set up the step ladder where she could reach around all parts of the upper section of the tree that they hadn't been able to reach well and also able to put up the star Maura had chosen. She climbed up the two steps on it before reaching out to Maura and saying, "Why don't you hand me whichever ornaments you want to hang up here to fill in the spots we couldn't reach and then I'll do the star last."

Maura walked over the box where she could get out the ornaments she wanted up there and handed the box to Jane. Jane proceeded to fill the couple of little gaps that she saw there and hung a few others in spots she thought needed them.

"Ok, I think we are ready for the star, what do you think?"

"Definitely," Maura said as she took the box with the couple of remaining ornaments back and then handed the star to Jane.

Jane placed it on the highest branch and fastened it as securely as she could to the branch. She then expertly wove the cord of it down through the ornaments and the tree so that it reached and extra outlet on the lights that came on the tree. She plugged it in and in an instant it was glowing. It looked beautiful.

"Oh, Jane!" Maura exclaimed. "It's perfect."

"Yeah, I think it looks pretty great too," she replied as she stepped down off of the step ladder.

"Thank you for all your help Jane," Maura said as she wrapped her friend up in a hug. "I don't think I'd have gotten it done without you."

"Hey, you would have gotten it done, but it was my pleasure to come and help you. I never realized just how much you look after us until today," she said hugging Maura back. "I saw that all of the ornaments were shatter proof. I know you had to have bought those with TJ in mind so that he couldn't get hurt. I so appreciate everything that you do for us Maura and I'm sorry that don't tell you more often how grateful I am to have you in my life."

Jane well wet heat start to seep into the shoulder of her t-shirt. Only then did she realize that Maura was crying. "Hey," she said leaning back a little. "What's wrong Maur?"

But Maura could only shake her head and bury her face even further into Jane's shoulder. Jane decided that Maura would need some time, so she just wrapped her arms back around her best friend and rubbed her hands up and down Maura's back to try and comfort her for whatever she had going on.

Neither of them knew just how long they stood there wrapped in their embrace. The time didn't really matter either of them, what was important was that each knew the other was there for them. Finally, Maura's tears faded out, but they stayed like that a few more minutes with Jane still trying to offer the best comfort she could in the situation.

Maura leaned back and mumbled an, "I'm sorry," while looking around for something to wipe at the tear tracks on her face.

It seemed like out of thin air that Jane produced the tissue. "Hey, she said stooping down just a little to try and catch Maura's eyes, "You have nothing to be sorry about. I just wish I knew exactly what was going on so I could make it better."

Maura knew this was it. This was her twenty seconds of insane courage. It was about to be now or never as far as telling Jane about the pregnancy. "You might not say that in a couple of minutes."

Jane flashed her a confused look and she continued on. "I have something that I need to tell you. I haven't been able to say it, but I think I've found a way to show you. The new ornaments that I talked about needed to put up earlier. They're over there on the tree. You should go take a look at them."

"Okay?" Jane said. It was a question though, not just a statement. She wondered what could be so special about an ornament that Maura would need to tell her something.

The first ornament that she spotted that looked different from all of the others was a picture ornament. It was actually a picture of her and Maura together. It had been taken during the holidays last year. Jane had her arm around Maura and they were smiling brightly for the camera. It was a beautiful picture of the two of them; she could see why Maura would get it made into an ornament. It seemed to add just a little something to the tree.

A few feet over she spotted another ornament which also looked like it was a picture ornament; this one though had a thin silver frame around a top picture and so far the bottom space looked like it was empty. Jane carefully removed from the branch it was hanging on so she could get a better look. Her eyes wandered down underneath what was supposed to be the top picture. In small letters there she found the words First Christmas 2014 inscribed.

Her eyes quickly drifted past where the second picture was supposed to be in the frame. There she found the words Baby's First Christmas 2015. Realization flitted through her conscious as she looked at the top picture again suddenly realizing what she had looked at. She remembered when she had seen an image like this before. They had seen one of TJ. It was a picture printed from a sonogram.

Her mouth dropped open and she spun around on her heel as fast as she could to face Maura. Maura had a terrible, 'Oh my god, what have I just done' look on her face.

"Maur?" It was a question. Jane's eyes went from Maura's eyes down to her stomach and back again. "Yuh—yuh—yuh," Jane stuttered, not able to find appropriate words. "You?" she finally managed to get out.

Maura just nodded her head in response. Based on the shocked look on her face, Maura didn't think this boded too well. Jane looked as though she could bolt any second. Maura could feel the tears starting to well behind her eyes again. After the last little bit she didn't think she would have any left to shed, but the hormones coursing through her body were telling her otherwise.

She took a deep breath trying to prepare herself for the worst that about to come her way. She knew that there was bound to be anger and hurt directed her way shortly or Jane leaving. She didn't know which, but she knew she should be prepared for all of it just in case.

Jane shook her head slightly as though she were trying to clear some kind of thought or bring herself back into reality from a daydream she had been having. She looked up at Maura and said, "Marry Me."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey y'all. So, I have it from a very good authority that one of my readers sat on Santas lap yesterday and asked him for this chapter for Christmas. Oh, wait. No, that was my lap she was sitting in and I had a Santa hat on at the time. (And I think I might have just made a naughty list somewhere for telling y'all that.) Anyway, Bee darling, here is what you've been waiting on... Enjoy!**

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Maura's jaw dropped at the same time she saw Jane's hand clamped down around her mouth. It was like her brain had just emptied itself of everything. There wasn't one single thing in there that she could pull out and try to get passed her lips to say in response to a statement like that. She started to feel herself go weak at the knees, she needed to sit and fast.

Before her brain could process what had happened she felt Jane at her side. Jane's arm was around her and she was being moved. Once she felt her body sink into something soft she realized that Jane had helped her to the chair by the couch. Jane sat down on the end of the coffee table near the chair where she could take in the sight of Maura.

"I…" Jane started to say. Maura held up her hand signaling for her to stop.

Maura's brain had kicked back in as Jane had helped her down into the chair. Jane had just sort of proposed to her. That was what that was right? Did she just say it as a reflex because she was in shock? Was there any possible way she could mean it? Why on Earth would Jane even say something like that in the first place? Could Jane really have felt about her the way she felt about Jane and both had been too scared to say anything about it? Those and what seemed like a thousand other thoughts were now bouncing around inside of her head. She needed a moment to process them; it's why she had silenced Jane when she had started to speak.

Maura slowly looked up at Jane. Her eyes scanned up her body. Jane was sitting on the end of the coffee table. She was slightly hunched over, meaning that her elbows were resting on the tops of her knees. Her right hand was furiously rubbing at the scar in the palm of her left hand. Her bottom lip was pulled in between teeth and her eyes were cast down at the carpet somewhere to the right of where she was sitting in the chair. Jane's leg started to bounce up and down, and if it was possible in the seated position she was in Maura could almost swear Jane was rocking back and forth a little bit as well.

They had to talk about this. There was nothing they could do to avoid it. It was time they talked things out. And Maura found herself more nervous about trying to have this conversation with Jane than she had about trying to tell Jane she was pregnant.

"Jane," it came out so quiet it was a whisper. But everything was so quiet in the house Jane had heard it without any problem. Her head immediately snapped up and she looked Maura dead in her eyes.

Both sets of eyes were filled with a gamut of emotions that were flowing throughout their bodies at the moment. They could read hope, fear, anguish, pain, and joy in the eyes of the other; but at the same time those emotions seemed to flow out of one of them and to the other. It was like they could physically feel the emotions of the other even though they were feet apart.

"Maur, I didn't… I didn't mean it like that…" Jane was struggling with her sentence.

This was it. Maura could feel it. This was the part where Jane said that she didn't mean it like that because she didn't have feelings in that way. She meant the words as a sign of a support; a sign that she would be there for Maura and the baby when they needed it. She could feel yet more tears start to well behind her eyes and thought for a moment of cursing the hormones in her body, but it wouldn't do her any good.

Jane had stood up from the coffee table and was now pacing back in forth in a small space that wasn't cluttered with the boxes from their decorating. Her hand kept running through her messy curls.

"Jane, it's okay," she managed to get out without tears falling. "You don't have to say anything. You were in just a bit of shock finding out and caught up in the moment. I understand."

Jane stopped pacing and looked at her. "No, Maur, it's not that…" The pacing started again. "I just… There's so much going through my mind I can't really make heads or tails of where to start or how to get out what I want to say."

Maura took a big breath. She willed the tears back. She needed to be level headed here. She knew Jane would have questions she would need to answer. "Start with the one question you want answered the most."

Jane stopped pacing again and looked at her. "How long?" she asked without any hesitation. Maura knew she was talking about how far along she was.

"Twelve weeks in a couple of days," she replied calmly. To her surprise that got a giggle out of Jane.

"Wow. I think you might have hit the nail on the head earlier while we were decorating in saying that I must not be much of a detective. How could I have gone this long and not noticed any signs? How did I overlook the fact that you hadn't been coming to The Robber or that I didn't see you with any sort of drink at Thanksgiving dinner; or completely miss the morning sickness?"

"Jane, please come sit down," Maura politely requested of her.

Jane did as asked. She took her seat back on top of the coffee table. She knew that Maura probably wasn't too happy about her sitting there, but it was the nearest thing to sit on so they could be face to face and have this discussion. She looked deeply into the beautiful hazel eyes of the woman across from her.

"First off, please don't be hard on yourself and feel like you've missed something. Other than being more tired than usual, I haven't had any other symptoms with the pregnancy. Honestly, I thought it was a stroke of luck that I made it through Thanksgiving dinner without you or your mother noticing that I didn't have any wine. And I hadn't been going to The Robber because I was tired after some of the long days we'd been putting in lately at the station."

That sat for a moment just looking at each other before Maura continued.

"I'm sorry."

"Maur what do you—?"

"No, Jane, let me get this out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now. I've spent weeks trying to find the right way to tell you and then after a few weeks I was worried you would be mad when I did finally tell you because I had kept it from you for so long. I didn't want you to think that you're not important enough to me for me not to share major new like this with you right away. You are the most important person in my life and I'm always afraid I'll lose you."

As tough as she tried to look and act on the outside, there wasn't anyone on this planet that could make Jane melt faster than Maura Isles.

"You could never lose me, no matter what," Jane said as she reached for one of Maura's hands and wrapped it in her own.

"Really?" Maura asked, tears threatening to make their way beyond her eyes this time.

"Really, really," Jane replied.

"Thank you," Maura said smiling, but her voice cracked on the words and tears made their way down her cheeks.

"Hey," Jane said as she moved from the coffee table to kneeling on the floor right in front of Maura. She reached up and brushed some of the tears away with the pads of her thumbs. Maura slightly leaned in to the touch. "It's going to be alright. I do have a couple of more questions though."

"Okay," Maura said giving her permission to ask the questions.

"Jack?" she asked quietly. Maura nodded.

"Does he…" Maura responded with a shake of her head without Jane having to finish the question.

"Do you want him to?"

"I don't know," Maura replied honestly. She had thought of it so much. Really he deserved to know, but there was a part of her being selfish here. She knew that Jack would try to be a good man and want to be a part of the baby's life and she just wasn't sure she wanted that. It was wrong of her to think that way, she knew it, but she just couldn't help it.

"Hey, it's okay," Jane said to her. "Whatever you decide to do it's your decision."

They stayed quiet for a few moments as Maura's tears dried. There was only one thing left to really talk about and it seemed to be the elephant in the room now. Though Maura technically hated that phrase because it was illogical to have a pachyderm in a room like this.

"About what I said earlier," Jane said deciding to finally broach the subject. They couldn't really avoid it much longer.

"Jane, you don't have to—"

Jane placed her finger over Maura's lips to quiet her. "No, my turn to speak now. I want to get this out. I know you think it was something I said because I was caught off guard or in shock of what I had just found out. Yes, I was caught off guard, but that's not why I said it. I'm sure you think that I just meant it in a way as I'll always be there for you and this baby whenever you need help, but that's not it either."

This was it; this was her 20 seconds to finally say to Maura everything she should have said long ago. "I love you Maura Dorothea Isles. I love everything about you, except for the fact that I haven't been the person in a relationship with you. I know you love me too. I've seen it in your eyes and on your face in the way that you give me a smile that's just for me. I'm sorry, that I've been too much of a coward to say it before now, but I love you. Marry me. At least someday marry me…"

"I guess we could go on at least one date before we tied the knot," they both let out a little chuckle at Jane's attempt to lighten the mood just a bit. "But I sort of feel like we've been dancing around dating each other for the past few years. So, I guess I'd be okay with getting married and then doing the whole thing in reverse if you wanted, but whatever happens I just want to do it with you."

Jane could see tears starting to brim in Maura's eyes again. They started to well in her own as well. She hated it that Maura had shed so many tears today, but she hoped at least these now were going to be happy ones. "I want you, and I want this family with you. So please," she uttered as her voice finally started to crack with emotion, "please say you'll marry me." Tears finally slid down her cheeks as well.

Maura had sat in a sort of stunned silence throughout Jane's speech. She could hardly believe that she was hearing the things coming out of her mouth that she had only dreamed that she might one day hear. She almost felt like she needed to pinch herself to make sure she hadn't fainted while they were decorating and that she was in some sort of hyper realistic dream.

Whether this was a dream or not she could think of only one way to respond to a proposal such as this. She leaned down slightly and captured Jane's lips in a kiss. Jane's lips were softer than she had imagined them being. The kiss was light, but both women poured all of the love and affection they felt for the other into the kiss.

Maura was the first to break the kiss, but she couldn't bear to pull back from Jane completely so she rested her forehead against Jane's. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to end the intimate moment between them just yet.

When she finally did open her eyes and lean back a bit she could see Jane's eyes shining brightly at her. "Yes," Maura whispered so quietly even Jane almost couldn't make out what she was saying. "Yes, I'll marry you, Jane Clementine Rizzoli. And, I love you too."

Jane couldn't help the smile that stretched itself from ear to ear across her face as she heard those words. She leaned in and captured Maura's lips for one more kiss as she pulled Maura's body closer to hers at the same time. When they broke apart Jane's eyes moved down to Maura's stomach and then back up again. She was silently asking for permission.

Maura nodded. She felt Jane's hands slide just underneath the hem of the light sweater she had put on that morning. Soon, Jane had the fabric pushed over where a small bump had just started to show. Jane placed her hand on the spot and caressed it lovingly.

Before Maura realized what she was doing Jane leaned in and placed her lips on the tiny bump. When Jane leaned back Maura heard her whisper as she caressed the spot some more, "Hi baby. I'm your Ma, and I love you and your Mommy so much. I can't wait to meet you."

**THE END**

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**So, that's all she wrote for this one. I do hope all of you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did pushing myself to write it. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story. Thank you for the good luck wishes on my final. I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season. I'd still love to hear what you all thought of this story so don't forget to leave me a review. And, I'll see y'all for my next story!**


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